Memories of his mum inspire Louis Tomlinson

BEFORE stepping out on stage, Louis thinks of his late mum Johannah Deakin — a ritual he feels helps him to cope with the tragedy.

The singer lost his 43-year-old mother to leukaemia just before Christmas last year. But he says her memory is inspiring his solo career.

‘Enormous tragedies affect people in different ways. I’m lucky that my mum brought me up to be pretty thick-skinned,’ Louis explained. ‘There is never any time in my job to sit and feel sorry for myself. I always want to keep going and keep fighting. Of course, at times it is as difficult as it possibly could be.’

He said that, while waiting to go on stage for last month’s Royal Variety Performance, he had ‘a little word with myself’, adding: ‘I think, “I have got to make her proud”. It’s those things that really keep me going. It’s been a crazy 24 months and a hell of a lot to deal with for someone of my age.

‘It genuinely makes me a stronger person and creatively it gives me so much depth. I think I am coping as well as I could do, to be honest.’